Afghan War Costs Compared to State Budget Shortfalls
June 27, 2011
A recent report by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities found that 41 states and the District of Columbia are projecting budget shortfalls for Fiscal Year 2012 totaling $102.9 billion. This amount could be wiped out entirely by the amount spent on the war in Afghanistan this year ($122 billion in FY2011). Further, the amount contributed by each individual state to the war's cost would wipe out that state's shortfall in roughly 80% of the states projecting deficits. In some cases a state's war contribution exceeds its projected shortfall by billions of dollars.
States not listed in the following table are either not projecting a funding shortfall in FY2012 or for which there is no data.
State |
FY2012 Projected Shortfall In $Millions |
FY2011 Share of Afghan War Costs In $Millions |
| Alabama | 979 | 1,035 |
| Arizona | 1,500 | 1,648 |
| California* | 14,800 | 14,219 |
| Colorado | 450 | 2,044 |
| Connecticut | 2,900 | 2,289 |
| District of Columbia | 322 | 957 |
| Florida | 3,700 | 5,793 |
| Georgia | 1,300 | 3,147 |
| Hawaii | 540 | 327 |
| Idaho | 92 | 323 |
| Illinois | 5,300 | 5,776 |
| Iowa | 149 | 914 |
| Kansas | 492 | 979 |
| Kentucky** | 780 | 1,216 |
| Louisiana | 1,600 | 1,798 |
| Maine | 422 | 307 |
| Maryland | 1,400 | 2,480 |
| Massachusetts | 1,800 | 3,715 |
| Michigan | 767 | 2,798 |
| Minnesota | 3,800 | 3,538 |
| Mississippi | 634 | 473 |
| Missouri | 704 | 2,398 |
| Nebraska | 166 | 918 |
| Nevada** | 1,200 | 670 |
| New Hampshire | 250 | 436 |
| New Jersey | 10,500 | 6,187 |
| New Mexico | 450 | 396 |
| New York | 10,000 | 10,415 |
| North Carolina | 2,400 | 2,994 |
| Ohio** | 3,000 | 5,539 |
| Oklahoma | 500 | 1,217 |
| Oregon** | 1,700 | 1,100 |
| Pennsylvania | 3,700 | 5,299 |
| Rhode Island | 219 | 547 |
| South Carolina | 630 | 903 |
| South Dakota | 127 | 224 |
| Texas | 9,000 | 9,839 |
| Utah | 390 | 704 |
| Vermont | 176 | 167 |
| Virginia** | 2,000 | 3,015 |
| Washington | 2,500 | 2,520 |
| Wisconsin | 1,600 | 1,988 |
| TOTAL | 102,900 | 122,000 |
NOTES
* California's total does not include an $8.2 billion carried over from the previous fiscal year.
** State totals are one-half of projected shortfall for a two-year budget.
SOURCES
"States Continue to Feel Recession's Impact"
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, June 17, 2011
NPP's "Cost of War" Tradeoffs page